Ashes 2017: England Will Struggle With Kookaburra Ball, Says Starc

New Delhi: The war of words is intensifying between Australia and England just before the Ashes. Now Mitchell Starc has claimed that the touring English team will face a lot of difficulties in Australia, with the Kookaburra ball under lights.

“I think our squad has played enough over in England to know there’s a bit more grass on the wicket, a bit like it is out here, but this is a different cricket ball. They (England) haven’t played with a pink Kooka(burra) before, I think their pink Duke (brand ball) swung quite a bit which they won’t find with the pink Kookaburra. So for us, it’s probably an advantage to have a bit of pink ball cricket under our belts with a few seasons in the Shield and a couple of Test matches,” Starc was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

Starc even mentioned that given the conditions during the series, it will be difficult to score runs. Cricket.com.au reported that Kookaburra manufacturers have modified the seam of the ball for the Australian summer.

“It (the Adelaide pitch) is probably going to be as much like a Test wicket as the one we played on this week. So batters are going to have find a way to score runs, and for bowlers it’s about bowling in good spots and trying to take as many wickets as quickly as we can,” he said.

The Aussie pacer backed NSW teammate Trent Copeland to perform in the upcoming Ashes. The Day-Night Test begins December 2. “They (England) are going to be really hard work here,” Copeland said. “Guys like (James) Anderson and (Stuart) Broad, bowling around the wicket to a lot of our lefties and swinging the ball both ways. “Even someone like Chris Woakes who pitches the ball up and swings it. I think they are pretty well suited all around the country to be honest, but here in particular it’s going to be very much like English conditions,” he added.